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May 23, 2013
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DISCOVERY
News from The Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center
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Hello and welcome!
Thanks for dropping in to the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center, a not-for-profit, AZA-accredited wildlife park and educational facility, with a diverse crew of staff and volunteers. We're glad you're here with us, and we hope to see you in person soon.
As usual, there's a lot going on in this issue. Enjoy the photos and the news. Get to know our amazing cast of characters, and share us with your friends. Please come visit us, right here in West Yellowstone, relax and watch the animals, or participate in one of our interactive programs and displays. Until then we wish you all the best. We hope we can bring a little discovery and excitement your way. See you soon!
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 | Nakina
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Around The Center
What's Happening at the GWDC
The snow is gone (at least here at the Center and around town), the first wildflowers are starting to pop up, and we have officially adopted our summer hours! We are open every day now from 8:30 - 8:30; visitors are arriving by planes, trains, and automobiles (OK, not really trains but by foot, bicycle, RV, and motorcycle); and summer programs are building momentum. As you can see, Nakina has been soaking up the sun on a favorite rock, and we're all getting excited about the busy summer ahead. We want to wish you a Happy Memorial Day Weekend, and a super summer beyond.
It may seem strange that we start each newsletter with some sort of weather report, but here at the GWDC we are creatures of our environment. When the habitats and surrounding areas start to green up, when seedlings start to sprout, when it rains 2 inches in a day, it's all a big deal to us. Maybe we need more hobbies. Besides being the unofficial start of summer, May is Be Bear Aware & Wildlife Stewardship Month. There have been many reports of bear sightings in Yellowstone in the past couple of weeks. This is the time when bears and cubs emerge from their winter dens, kids once again start exploring our great outdoors, and families begin making their summer plans to travel to our parks, forests, and refuges. May is the time to remind Americans how to enjoy our wildlife, especially bears, safely and responsibly.
This weekend we're looking forward to a visit from the Clean Slate Group, the agency responsible for all the decorative wraps for trash and recycling bins we showed you in the last issue. They have generously assumed part of the production and application costs for wrapping four of our trash and recycling containers here at the Center! We are looking forward to meeting them and seeing the difference this spruce-up will make. We'll show pictures next time, and hopefully you'll be here soon to see and use these bins yourself!
Remember if you have any questions, or just want to know more about any aspect of the Center, you can always give us a call at 406.646.7001, reply to this newsletter, or email
info@grizzlydiscoveryctr.com. We will try to keep you informed and up to date in as many ways as we can. Your involvement and interest in what we do keeps us doing it! We welcome your feedback and suggestions. Thanks again for tuning in.
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Bears, Wolves, and Birds
(Oh My!)
Animal Updates
It has been a big couple of weeks for the animals! Let's get right to it. The aviaries are now open! The eagles are out along with Tegan, the Great-horned owl. We have opened the walkway, and birds and visitors seem to be watching and learning about each other with great interest. We received a delivery of fish last week, which is always a treat. The wolves prowled and pounced after the trout were added to the ponds, and fishing continues to enrich both their time and their diet. The bears have also been fishing. Watching Grant and Roosevelt catch their first fish was exciting for all of us, as we saw their natural instincts kick in. Toys for Tuesday has also been reintroduced to the bear habitat! We'll have pictures and stories of bears and toys in the coming weeks. Finally, the animals have started to receive the first items from our Summer Wish List! Big thanks go out to friends of the Center who have sent dried fruit and unsalted nuts already!
Stay tuned here and we'll keep you posted on the reason we're all here: the bears, wolves, birds, and our bear dog Nakiska, who will be participating in our summer programs! Remember to check out our webcams when you're wondering what's going on around here or wanting to stay connected until your next visit. Every issue of our email newsletter will have updates on our animals, and we will still be sending quarterly newsletters through the mail. Our next Howls & Growls quarterly newsletter will be sent out in just a couple weeks. If you want to be added to our H&G mailing list, give us a call. We'd love to greet you and tell you how to join up.
Check out our bears...
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 | | Teaching Trunks are a big hit! |
Education
Knowledge Is a Powerful Tool
International Migratory Bird Day has come and gone. Last weekend's celebration of migratory birds included presentations, games, and other activities here at the GWDC. The Education team was busy helping visitors learn about the various species, behaviors, and importance of migratory birds. Speaking of being busy helping people learn, we are seeing many school groups and hosting several outreach programs from now until the beginning of June. Just last week AJ spent a day giving birds-of-prey presentations at the US Forest Service-sponsored Bear Creek Field Camp. This annual three-day event takes hundreds of kids from around southwest Montana out into the woods at the Bear Creek Campground between West Yellowstone and Ennis. The students receive instruction in such topics as mountain biking, fly fishing, archery, and more, in an effort to encourage them to appreciate and enjoy the ecosystem in which we live. We are excited about all the students visiting us and welcoming our visits! We always end this section of the newsletter with a reminder about outreach programs and Teaching Trunks, but we want to tell you about a special group of students who recently interacted with some of our educational materials. Without saying too much, there's an amazing class of learners in West Virginia with an inspiring teacher and an inspiring story. They sent back a Teaching Trunk with photos, letters, and extra books for our library, and reminded us of just how important and how touching our relationships with schools and teachers are. Kelly, thank you for all you do. If you're interested in visiting the GWDC with your family or with your students, or if you'd like to sponsor a Teaching Trunk or outreach program, let us know. One of the Center's naturalists can visit your school for special assemblies, programs or activities. As you know, some of our birds-of-prey can travel for such programs as can our large collection of wolf and bear artifacts. We will customize the program or the Teaching Trunk for your group and areas of special interest. Special thanks to Kelly at Alum Bridge Elementary for your recent additions to our library!
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 | Old Faithful and the GWDC: Destinations Worth Visiting!
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Developments
New and Exciting Opportunities to Support the GWDC
Last week we hosted a breakfast for a fabulous group of tour leaders. The Discover America UK Trade group split into seven subgroups and toured different parts of the US before reconvening in Miami. The folks on this route including Yellowstone and the Tetons spent the morning with us, their only stop in Montana, before venturing on to Salt Lake City that night. It was certainly an honor to represent this part of the world as a potential tour destination, and fun to follow the journeys of all seven tours on Facebook. We hope to see some of these fun-loving and world-traveling folks again soon.
We didn't hear from you last time. The newsletter was probably so long you didn't have time to respond, but we really want your input. Yes, yours. Have you ever engaged in crowd-funding? If you've ever hosted or participated in an online fund-raising platform such as Crowdrise, Crowdtilt, Razoo, or Fundraise.com, what did you think? Was it fun? How did you get involved? We have a small and compelling project coming up, and we're tossing around this idea of using technology and social networks to make things interesting. If you have any ideas or opinions, let us know. Reply to this newsletter, email jenniferh@grizzlydiscoveryctr.com, or post your answers on Facebook. Your feedback would be really helpful. Thanks!
Our Summer raffles have officially begun. We'll have pictures of both items soon. They are both on display in the Naturalist Cabin, and we think they will knock your socks off. From now until October 31st, we will be selling $10 raffle tickets for a gorgeous 24" x 36" framed photograph donated by Ken Takata, and a stunning hand-made quilt lovingly sewn by Kelly Bishop. Keep an eye out here for more information.
And finally, our Summer Wish List has become a great tradition here at the GWDC. It's like Christmas in July to send the wolves a selection of extracts or buy the bears burlap bags to shred and toss. You'll see the full list on the back of the upcoming Howls & Growls newsletter, and we have mentioned it on Facebook. The exciting new twist is that we will be making our Wish List available on Amazon.com, thanks to a suggestion by Tammy! You should be able to browse a complete Wish List here by this afternoon! We want to make giving fun, not a hassle, and we want you to know that we don't expect all these treats and treasures. It just blows us away when anything arrives, and we hope this list is a helpful and easy resource for you.
We are grateful that you are involved with the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center.
Thanks again for all you do. We look forward to hearing from you soon!
Keep reading about other ways to support the GWDC... |
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Eye Candy
Photographs and Artwork from the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center
We are honored to have many artists and photographers visit and support the GWDC. Their vision and talents inspire and enliven our work here, so we thought it would be nice to feature some of their work in every issue of our newsletter. If you'd like to see your artwork here, send us an image! Paintings, sculptures, and mixed media are welcome too.
Our thanks to Alum Bridge Elementary School, Gretchen Heine, and Kimberly Shields for this week's photographs.
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We hope you enjoy this issue, learn a little something, and feel like you are here with us for just a few minutes. It's a pretty special place to be. Have a great couple of weeks and a fantastic spring, and we'll look forward to seeing you soon. Thanks again for all you do.
Sincerely,
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 | Adara
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The GWDC Staff
Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center |
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Gift Shop
Happenings
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Greetings from the Gift Shop!
We are excited to welcome John Fry and Serena DeCastro to our Gift Shop and Admissions crew. It's shaping up to be a terrific summer. We have new faces, new books, and new gift and souvenir items in store for you.
If you're interested in autographed books, we have several, including a Field Guide for Yellowstone National Park and Great Teton National Park, signed by the author just last week. Stop in to see other titles.
Thank you for supporting and shopping at the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center!
| For a limited time, receive FREE SHIPPING when you order a 2014 GWDC Calendar!
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